(Ebe  tet  of  tl )t  past 

OF  THE 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S. 

1838—1913 

BY 

ALLEN  R.  BARTHOLOMEW 

SECRETARY 


“The  spirit  of  missionary  endeavor  is  essential 
to  any  large  work  done  by  the  local  church.” 

“The  foreign  missionary  zeal  would  seem  to  be 
the  thermometer  by  which  to  test  the  benefactions 
of  the  Church.” 

“No  human  counsel  hath  devised,  nor  hath  any 
mortal  wrought  out  these  great  things.  They  are 
from  the  Most  High  God.” 

“The  people  who  do  most  for  foreign  missions 
are  the  people  who  do  most  for  everything  else,  for 
home  missions  and  for  home  charities.” 

“God  gives  us  tasks  not  according  to  our 
strength;  He  summons  us  to  tasks  infinitely  beyond 
our  power.  He  summons  us  to  tasks  according  to 
our  strength  reinforced  by  the  Holy  Spirit.” 

“Foreign  missions  are  broad  enough,  hard  enough, 
rewarding  enough,  to  satisfy  the  soul  that  aspires 
to  hardship  and  heroism.  Here  we  find  the  moral 
safeguard  of  the  Church — the  true  conserver  of  the 
test  God  has  given  to  men.” 


\  i 


REFORMED  CHURCH  BUILDING 

FIFTEENTH  AND  RACE  STREETS  ::  PHILADELPHIA 


THE  GIST  OF  THE  PAST  OF  THE 
BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS,  REFORMED 
CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Helpful  Data  for  Sermon  on  the 

Seventy-fifth  Ann  iversary 

BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
SEPTEMBER  29-30,  1913 


Suitable  Texts: — Psalm  90:16-17. 

Isaiah  49:6. 

Romans  15:21. 

WHAT  THE  WORK  OF  THE  BOARD  IS 

The  work  of  Foreign  Missions  presents  the  wid¬ 
est  scope  for  the  exercise  of  faith  in  God  and  love 
for  humanity.  It  is  the  fruit  of  faith  and  the  flower 
of  love.  It  is  the  expulsive  power  of  the  life  of 
Christ  in  the  soul.  It  is  the  outward  expression  of 
the  spiritual  zeal  of  the  Church.  The  best  history 
of  a  denomination  is  its  missionary  record.  A  Church 
with  a  world-vision  and  a  passion  for  souls  will  live, 
grow  and  prosper. 

World  evangelization  is  the  supreme  task  of  the 
Christian  Church.  To  accomplish  it  there  must  be 
proper  organization.  The  work  is  too  great — the  field 
too  extensive — the  demands  too  numerous — to  he  left 
to  an  individual  or  a  congregation.  Problems  arise 
at  home  and  on  the  mission  fields  that  require  ex¬ 
pert  knowledge  for  their  wise  solution.  For  this 
purpose  the  Church  has  set  apart  men,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  devote  their  time  to  a  study  of  these 
problems. 


THE  BOARD  A  SERVANT 

The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  is  the  responsible 
agency  through  whom  the  Church  carries  on,  in  a 
united,  wise  and  aggressive  manner,  its  work  in  behalf 
of  humanity  and  God.  In  a  word,  it  is  doing  the 
work  of  the  Church. 

The  General  Synod  elects  the  members  of  the 
Board,  and  it  aims  to  select  men  of  faith  and  devo¬ 
tion,  of  ability  and  prudenceV-With  the  exception  of 
the  Secretary  and  the  Treasurer,  the  members  do 
not  receive  any  salary,  but  freely  give  their  time  and 
experience.  A  member  of  a  certain  Foreign  Board 
said:  “I  could  not  be  hired  to  do  this  work  for 
$5,000  a  year,  but  I  will  do  it  gratuitously  for  the 
sake  of  Christ  and  my  brethren.” 

*®The  Church  owes  much  to  the  Board.  Though 
the  members  occasionally  err  in  judgment,  and  fail 
in  their  efforts,  yet  we  should  trust  them  and  believe 
that  the  cause  they  serve  is  fully  as  dear  to  them  as 
to  us.  Dr.  William  N.  Clarke,  the  eminent  theologian, 
in  “A  Study  of  Christian  Missions”  expresses  the  fol¬ 
lowing  opinion: 

“The  fact  ought  to  be  taken  more  closely  home 
to  the  popular  Christian  heart  that  a  missionary 
society  is  conducting  a  work  of  exceptional  magni¬ 
tude  and  difficulty,  under  conditions  that  render  mis- 
judgment  of  its  doings  extremely  easy;  and  that  its 
officers  deserve  sympathetic  and  respectful  judgment 
from  all  their  brethren.” 


2 


THE  GIST  OF  THE  PAST  OF  THE 
BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS,  REFORMED 
CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


THE  BOARD  AN  ADMINISTRATOR 

In  discussing  the  personnel  of  the  Boards  ^  of 
Missions,  the  Editor  of  The  Interior  says  that,  “So 
far  from  a  ministerial  life  unfitting  a  man  for  prac¬ 
tical  affairs,  the  Church  has  command  of  the  best 
brains  in  the  country  for  the  least  money,  and  makes 
fewer  business  mistakes  than  the  great  corporations 
of  which  we  hear  so  much.” 

The  executive  officer  of  the  Board  is  the  secre¬ 
tary, — the  larger  Boards  having  several  secretaries. 
That  the  position  of  secretary  should  not  be  imagined 
to  be  one  of  the  soft  seats  in  Zion,  Dr.  Clarke  says 
that  “In  respect  of  responsibility  and  laboriousness, 
there  is  scarcely  any  other  Christian  service  that  is 
comparable  to  that  of  the  officers  of  such  societies. 
Missionary  secretaries  have  to  conduct  a  work  of 
which  the  delicacy  and  difficulty  are  very  largely  un- 
appreciated.” 

The  Board  meets  regularly  on  the  first  Tuesday 
in  March  and,  in  special  session,  whenever  necessary. 
The  Executive  Committee  meets  every  month,  except 
in  July  and  August.  The  business  of  the  Foreign 
Board  is  more  varied  than  that  of  any  other  Board 
in  the  Church.  It  pertains  not  only  to  office  duties 
and  field  work,  but  to  a  multitude  of  details  affecting 
the  financial,  industrial,  political,  educational,  medi¬ 
cal  and  diplomatic  problems  of  Japan  and  China. 

The  members  of  the  Board  exercise  great  care  m 
the  handling  of  the  funds.  They  know  that  the  money 
comes  from  the  poor  and  the  rich;  that  it  includes 
the  widow’s  mite  and  the  toiler’s  wage,  and  that  it  is 
sent  on  its  mission  of  blessing  by  the  prayers  of 
loving  hearts. 

THE  TASK 

The  Foreign  Board  deals  with  a  world  task. 
Until  the  Church  realizes  this  fact,  the  Board  will 
not  receive  the  recognition,  and  support,  and  sym¬ 
pathy  that  it  deserves.  Foreign  Missions  is  not  one 
of  many  interests  in  the  Church,  but  the  chief  en¬ 
terprise  of  the  Church.  The  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions  in  its  work  represents  the  entire  Reformed 
Church.  It  is  a  unifying  center  for  all  the  activities 
in  our  denomination.  It  is  the  aggressive  force  in 
unfolding  to  the  mind  of  the  Church  the  heart  of 
God  in  the  work  of  Missions.  It  is  waging  a  constant 
campaign  in  behalf  of  a  more  systematic  study  of 
Missions,  and  the  introduction  of  the  best  methods 
to  accomplish  the  work  of  the  Church. 

Dr.  F.  F.  Ellinwood,  the  late  Secretary  of  the 
Presbyterian  Foreign  Board,  said:  “A  Board  of  For¬ 
eign  Missions  is  really  a  university  of  Christian 
beneficence.” 

I.  A  Board  is  a  great  Commissioning  Society. 

It  appoints  men  and  women  to  go  and  preach  and 
teach  the  Gospel  to  the  people  in  the  non-Christian 
world  These  leave  home  and  country,  to  live  and 
labor  in  strange  lands,  and  among  stranger  people. 
In  time  the  missionaries  gather  and  train  native 
preachers,  teachers  and  helpers,  who  become  valiant 
soldiers  in  the  army  of  Christian  conciuest.  All  this 
involves  a  sacred  obligation  on  the  part  of  the 
Church.  The  Church  will  prove  her  faith  by  her 
works  among  the  people  who  know  not  the  God  of 
our  Salvation. 


3 


THE  GIST  OF  THE  PAST  OF  THE 
BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS,  REFORMED 
CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


II.  A  Board  is  a  vast  Church  Erection  Society. 

It  builds  churches,  schools,  hospitals  and  resi¬ 
dences  for  the  missionaries.  The  latter  are  an  ab¬ 
solute  necessity.  To  compel  a  missionary  family  to 
live  in  a  native  house  in  the  cold,  damp  climate  of 
North  Japan,  or  on  the  malarious  mud  floor  in  inland 
China,  is  poor  economy  and  trifling  with  precious  life. 

III.  A  Board  is  a  great  Bureau  of  Education  in 
the  work  of  world  evangelization. 

Sufficient  missionaries  can  never  be  sent  from 
Christian  lands  to  convert  the  world.  A  native 
ministry  is  necessary  to  a  native  Church.  “India  must 
convert  India,  and  China  must  convert  China.”  To 
train  men  and  women  in  the  schools  for  this  work 
will  require,  later  on,  support  in  their  work.  There 
must  also  be  a  Christian  literature.  Many  mission¬ 
aries  are  spending  years  of  hard  labor  in  translating 
all  manner  of  books  into  the  language  of  the  people. 
How  few  know  of  the  difficulties  in  the  study  of  the 
language  before  real  Christian  work  can  be  under¬ 
taken. 

RELATION  OF  THE  BOARD  TO  THE 
CHURCH 

The  Foreign  Board  as  the  servant  of  the  Church 
is  not  alone  responsible  for  the  success  or  failure 
of  the  work  abroad.  The  Church  must  provide  the 
workers  and  the  funds  for  their  support.  If  the 
work  languishes,  the  blame  rests  with  the  Church. 
The  Board  directs,  it  cannot  do  the  work. 

The  duty  of  the  Board  is  to  keep  the  Church 
in  touch  with  the  work,  and  to  inspire  the  people 
with  the  spirit  of  larger  giving.  The  officers  view 
the  fields  as  from  a  watch-tower.  What  they  see 
and  feel,  they  must  impart  to  their  constituency.  It 
is  their  privilege  and  opportunity  to  arouse  and  in¬ 
spire  the  Church  to  greater  zeal  and  more  liberal 
support.  The  Church  has  a  right  to  look  to  the  offi¬ 
cers  of  the  Board  for  a  new  vision  of  duty  and  op¬ 
portunity. 

The  Board  must  keep  before  the  Church  the 
need  of  a  continual  advance  until  the  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sion  Policy  of  the  Church  can  be  fully  carried  out. 
This  is  not  the  time  to  stand  still  in  the  work  of 
Missions.  To  do  so  will  bring  disaster.  The  stand¬ 
ard  must  ever  be  kept  to  the  front  of  the  marching 
forces,  so  far  ahead  as  to  encourage,  but  never  so 
far  in  advance  as  to  dishearten.  If  the  nine-tenths 
of  the  members  could  be  led  to  give  as  liberally  as 
the  one-tenth,  the  work  of  the  Board  would  advance 
with  leaps  and  bounds. 

A  heavy  debt  is  a  proof  that  the  Church  has  not 
kept  pace  with  the  Forward  Movement.  Although  “a 
debt  is  no  more  a  disgrace  to  a  Mission  Board  than 
to  a  business  house,  or  to  a  hospital,  or  to  a  nation,” 
yet  it  greatly  retards  the  work  of  the  Church.  The 
great  duty  of  a  Board  is  to  keep  before  the  Church 
the  needs  and  opportunities  of  the  fields  abroad. 
What  we  all  need,  as  pastors  and  people,  is  to  pos¬ 
sess  such  faith  in  the  God  of  Missions,  and  so  live 
our  faith  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people,  that  a 
new  faith  may  be  begotten  in  the  Church  that  will 
sweep  away  every  obstacle  and  lead  the  Hosts  of 
God  on  to  victory. 


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THE  GIST  OF  THE  PAST  OF  THE 
BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS,  REFORMED 
CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


EARLY  FACTS  ABOUT  THE  WORK 

In  the  year  1834,  the  Classis  of  Susquehanna 
submitted  to  the  Synod  the  question,  “Whether  the 
time  is  not  at  hand,  when  the  Reformed  Church, 
instead  of  giving  its  contributions  as  heretofore 
to  other  churches  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  among 
the  heathen,  should  think  of  establishing  an  institu¬ 
tion  of  its  own  for  this  purpose.” 

In  the  year  1835,  the  Classis  of  West  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  stated  that  it  was  “of  the  opinion  that  the 
German  Reformed  Church  is  not  prepared  to  do 
much  for  the  heathen,  whilst  so  many  of  our  own 
destitute  brethren  are  crying,  ‘Come  and  help!  Send 
us  pastors  and  teachers !  ’  ” 

In  the  same  year,  the  Classis  of  Zion  expressed 
“its  willingness  to  co-operate  with  Synod  in  relation 
to  Foreign  Missions,  upon  any  practicable  plan.” 

In  the  year  1837,  the  Synod  appointed  a  Com¬ 
mittee  to  collect,  during  the  ensuing  year,  all  use¬ 
ful  facts  concerning  the  formation  of  a  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society.  The  Committee  reported  in  1838, 
and  its  recommendations  were  adopted. 


ORIGINAL  MEMBERS 


The  Board  was  organized  in  the  First  Reformed 
Church,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  during  the  Meeting  of  Synod 
in  1838.  The  title  of  the  Board  was,  “The  Foreign 
Missionary  Board  of  the  German  Reformed  Church, 
in  the  United  States  of  North  America.” 

Twelve  members  were  appointed,  as  follows: 


Ministers 


Elders 


Dietrich  Willers 
Bernard  C.  Wolff 
Samuel  Gutelius 
Samuel  R.  Fisher 
Elias  Heiner 
John  Cares 
Joseph  F.  Berg 


Matthew  Shaw 
John  Seidenstricker 
John  J.  Mayer 
Daniel  Buckey 
Burchert  Mayer 


The  Board  was  instructed  to  co-operate  with  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  in  which  the 
Dutch  Reformed,  Congregational  and  Presbyterian 
Churches  were  then  co-operating. 


The  first  officers  of  the  Board  were:  President, 
Rev.  Dietrich  Willers;  Vice-President,  Rev.  Elias 
Heiner;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Rev.  Bernard  C. 
Wolff;  Recording  Secretary,  Rev.  John  Cares;  Treas¬ 
urer,  Mr.  John  J.  Mayer. 


A  NOBLE  OFFER 

Immeditely  upon  the  organization  of  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  five  ministers  arose  and  signi¬ 
fied  their  willingness  to  support  a  missionary  of  the 
cross  in  heathen  lands.  The  names  of  these  ser¬ 
vants  of  God  and  the  amount  given  are  as  follows: 

Rev.  Elias  Heiner,  Baltimore,  Md. ... $120.00 


Rev.  Joseph  F.  Berg,  Phila.,  Pa .  120.00 

Rev.  Bernard  C.  Wolff,  Easton,  Pa. . . .  120.00 
Rev.  Dan’l  Zacharias,  Frederick,  Md..  120.00 
Rev.  Daniel  Ziegler,  York,  Pa .  120.00 


These  fathers  have  all  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus, 
but  their  works  do  follow  them.  “The  Lord  our  God 


5 


THE  GIST  OF  THE  PAST  OF  THE 
BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS,  REFORMED 
CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


be  with  us  as  He  was  with  our  fathers,”  and  help  us 
to  carry  on  the  great  work,  so  that  it  may  not  be 
said  to  our  shame,  “They  began  to  build  but  were  not 
able  to  finish.” 

The  first  offerings  received  by  the  Board  after  its 
organization  were  on  October  23,  1838,  from  the  Ger¬ 
man  Reformed  Church,  Trenton,  N.  J.,  per  pastor 
Rev.  John  H.  Schmaltz,  $4.00,  and  the  Ephrata  Re¬ 
formed  Church,  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  per  pastor 
Rev.  D.  Hertz,  $7.31£. 

OUR  FIRST  MISSIONARY 

The  first  foreign  missionary  of  the  Reformed 
Church  was  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Schneider,  D.D.,  who 
was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Pa.,  and  labored 
under  the  American  Board  from  1833  to  1875 — a  pe¬ 
riod  of  42  years. 

From  1840  to  1865,  the  Board  paid  the  contribu¬ 
tions  of  our  Church  to  the  American  Board,  amount¬ 
ing  to  $27,986.99,  and  the  money  was  devoted  towards 
the  support  of  Missionary  Schneider  and  his  work. 

Rev.  Cornelius  H.  Patton,  D.D.,  Secretary  of  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions,  recently  paid  this  tribute  to  Dr.  Schneider: 
“Our  records  show  that  he  was  a  mighty  force  in 
the  early  days  of  the  work  in  Turkey,  both  at  Broosa 
and  at  Aintab,  he  being  the  founder  of  the  latter 
station,  which  has  become  one  of  our  greatest  cen¬ 
ters  of  educational,  medical,  relief  and  evangelistic 
work.  Dr.  Strong,  our  historian,  assures  me  that 
Dr.  Schneider  was  one  of  the  really  great  mission¬ 
aries  of  that  pioneer  period.” 

About  1860,  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  began  to 
manifest  itself  with  the  mode  of  carrying  on  our 
foreign  work;  we  being  merely  contributors  to 
another  organization,  without  any  mission  properly 
our  own.  At  the  Synod  held  at  Lebanon,  Pa.,  ar¬ 
rangements  were  made  to  effect  a  transfer  of  the 
Mission  at  Aintab  to  our  Board.  A  lengthy  corres¬ 
pondence  was  carried  on  between  Elder  Rudolph  F. 
Kelker,  the  Treasurer  of  our  Board,  and  the  Rev. 
Rufus  Anderson,  D.D.,  Secretary  of  the  American 
Board.  Both  the  American  Board  and  Missionary 
Schneider  thought  such  a  transfer  inexpedient.  The 
American  Board  declined  to  surrender  Missionary 
Schneider,  but  he  continued  a  member  of  the  Mary¬ 
land  Classis  until  the  day  of  his  death  in  1877.  The 
last  money  to  the  American  Board  was  paid  October 
9,  1865. 

NEAR  THE  DEAD  LINE 

The  period  from  1865  to  1878  is  the  Sahara  in 
our  Foreign  Missionary  work.  No  special  interest 
was  manifested  in,  and  very  little  money  given  for, 
the  spread  of  the  Gospel  abroad.  The  Church  found 
itself  in  the  midst  of  an  intense  theological  con¬ 
troversy.  Verily,  the  work  of  the  Lord  languishes 
in  times  of  war! 

From  the  reports  of  the  Board  to  the  General 
Synod,  we  find  that  the  few  remittances  and  the 
interest  accrued  from  invested  funds  were  not  left 
lying  idle  in  the  treasury.  To  the  German  Evan¬ 
gelical  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  from  1872  to  1875, 
was  paid  $979.81,  which  was  applied  towards  the 


6 


THE  GIST  OF  THE  PAST  OF  THE 
BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS,  REFORMED 
CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


support  of  Rev.  Oscar  Lohr  and  his  associate,  Rev. 
Jacob  Hauser,  both  missionaries  of  the  Reformed 
Church,  who  were  laboring  in  India,  through  whose 
ministry  the  Mission  at  Bisrampore  was  founded. 

In  addition  to  this,  from  December,  1878,  to 
March,  1886,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  paid  for 
the  work  among  the  Winnebago  Indians  in  Wisconsin, 
established  under  Sheboygan  Classis  of  the  Synod 
of  the  Northwest,  about  $1,500. 

THE  NEW  ERA  IN  THE  WORK 

In  the  year  1878  the  spirit  of  peace  began  a  most 
gracious  work  in  our  General  Synod  at  Lancaster, 
Pa.,  which,  among  other  precious  results,  gave  a  new 
impetus  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  It  was  a 
happy  coincidence  that  in  the  same  church  where 
the  Foreign  Board  was  originally  organized,  it  should 
receive  new  life  from  the  God  of  Missions. 

The  officers  of  the  Board  in  1878  were: 

Rev.  David  Van  Horn,  D.D.,  President, 

Rev.  Charles  H.  Leinbach,  D.D.,  Vice-President, 
Rev.  Thomas  S.  Johnston,  D.D.,  Secretary, 

Hon.  Rudolph  F.  Kelker,  Treasurer. 

Among  the  members  of  the  Peace  Commission 
belonging  to  the  Foreign  Board  were  the  following: 
Rev.  David  Van  Horne,  D.D.,  Rev.  Clement  S. 
Weiser,  D.D.,  Elder  Rudolph  F.  Kelker  and  Elder 
William  H.  Seibert. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  WORK  IN  JAPAN 

At  the  same  meeting  of  General  Synod,  instruc¬ 
tions  were  given  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to 
move  forward  :n  its  work.  Japan  was  determined 
upon  as  the  field.  On  September  30,  1878,  Rev.  Am¬ 
brose  D.  Gring,  the  first  missionary  to  Japan,  was 
appointed.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gring  arrived  at  Yokohama, 
June  1,  1879.  Since  that  time  the  Board  has  sent  out 
31  missionaries,  not  including  wives,  of  whom  19 
are  still  in  active  service  on  the  field. 


OUR  CHINA  MISSION 

By  action  of  the  General  Synod,  held  at  Tiffin, 
Ohio,  in  May,  1899,  the  Board  was  authorized  to 
establish  the  China  Mission.  In  the  year  1900,  Rev. 
WTilliam  E.  Hoy,  D.D.,  organized  the  Mission  at 
Yochow  City,  Hunan,  China.  Since  then  the  Board 
has  sent  out  25  missionaries,  not  including  wives,  of 
whom  17  are  still  in  active  service. 

Thousands  of  souls  have  been  won  for  Christ 
since  the  organization  of  the  Board.  The  property 
valuation  of  the  Japan  Mission  is  $188,850,  and  of 
our  China  Mission,  $93,897.  Total,  $282,747. 

BEQUESTS 

The  first  bequest  to  the  Board,  on  record,  is  that 
of  George  B.  Cook,  of  $265,  on  August  18,  1861.  The 
largest  individual  bequest  is  that  of  Elder  N.  B. 
Schmitt,  of  Woodstock,  Virginia,  $9,806.04.  The 
smallest  bequest  is  that  of  Isaac  Bruce,  $1.03.  The 
smallest  gift  of  record  is  one  cent,  given  by  Isaac 
Bruce,  an  inmate  in  the  Montgomery  County  Alms- 


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THE  GIST  OF  THE  PAST  OF  THE 
BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS,  REFORMED 
CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


house.  This  became  a  seed-coin,  to  which  were  added 
contributions  from  members  of  the  Church  until  the 
sum  of  $1,200  was  secured.  This  is  a  permanent 
investment  and  is  known  as  the  “One  Cent  Alms¬ 
house  Fund.”  The  total  amount  of  bequests  to  the 
Board  up  to  September  1,  1913,  is  $73,252.90. 

THE  EXPENSES  OF  A  YEAR 

The  Japan  Mission  and  the  China  Mission  submit 
at  the  beginning  of  each  year  estimates  of  their  needs 
for  the  year.  For  the  year  1912,  the  expenses  of  the 
Japan  Mission  were  $72,893.21,  and  of  the  China  Mis¬ 
sion,  $36,348.09.  The  Home  Administration  expenses 
were  $29,108.18. 


RECEIPTS 

From  1838  to  1878 — approximately  $40,000, — an 
average  of  $1,000  per  year.  From  1878,  the  beginning 
of  the  Japan  Mission,  until  1900,  $353,880.49.  From 
1900,  the  beginning  of  the  China  Mission,  until  1912, 
$1,103,456.09.  From  1838  to  1912,  $1,497,336.58.  From 
June  1,  1912,  to  June  1,  1913,  $146,019.95. 

SOME  FRUITS  OF  THE  WORK 

I.  There  has  come  to  the  Church  a  wider  out¬ 
look  and  a  greater  vision  of  the  world.  The  available 
literature  has  been,  and  is,  of  immense  educational 
value.  What  a  knowledge  we  have  acquired  of  the 
regions  beyond — the  people  who  inhabit  them,  their 
customs,  religions,  characteristics,  languages,  history. 

II.  There  exists  a  nobler  conception  of,  and  a 
broader  sympathy  for,  the  human  brotherhood.  “Am 
I  my  brother’s  keeper?”  presses  for  an  answer  in  the 
20th  century  as  at  no  other  time  since  the  words  fell 
from  the  lips  of  Cain.  Foreign  Missions  will  make 
it  easier  for  the  Church  to  answer  this  tremendous 
problem. 

III.  There  is  a  spirit  of  unity  abroad  in  the 
Church,  directly  traceable  to  the  influence  of  the  work 
abroad.  Foreign  Missions  leads  the  way  in  the  matter 
of  unity.  The  Christian  forces  are  united  in  Japan 
as  they  are  not  in  America.  The  consciousness  of  the 
task  to  establish  the  Kingdom  has  drawn  the  Christ¬ 
ians  in  foreign  lands  together  in  this  laudable  effort. 
This  same  consciousness,  will,  in  the  end,  heal  the 
divisions  and  restore  the  broken  unity  of  the  Church 
in  the  Home  Land. 


THE  OUTLOOK  HOPEFUL 

Surely  the  work  done  by  the  Church  should  be 
an  earnest  of  the  work  that  can  he  done,  and  that 
will  be  done. 

The  steady  increase  in  the  receipts  for  the  three 
periods,  1838  to  1878,  1878  to  1900,  1900  to  1912,  should 
encourage  all  hearts  that  the  Church  is  on  the  high 
road  to  greater  things. 

The  promises  of  God  are  all  sufficient,  if  we  but 
avail  ourselves  of  them,  to  evangelize  the  10,000,000 
souls  in  Japan,  China,  and  the  Moslem  World,  the 
assumed  responsibility  of  OUR  SHARE  OF  THE 
WORLD. 


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